Audio signal clipping can occur in audio systems when a component within an audio device receives or produces an audio signal that exceeds the levels that the device is equipped to output. In response to a signal such as this, the device may produce an output in which the peaks of an otherwise sinusoidal waveform are flat or “clipped,” such that portions of the waveform become more like a square wave. Audio signal clipping can introduce harmonic distortion and other anomalies that may degrade audio quality.
Clipping may result from various types of signal processing that potentially increase signal amplitudes relative to original input levels. Examples of audio processing that can result in output clipping include various filtering; automatic gain control (AGC); equalization (EQ); audio beamforming; echo cancellation; noise reduction; and various other types of audio processing techniques that involve conversion between time and frequency domains.